The inventive concept relates generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, certain embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a nonvolatile memory device comprising a resistive memory cell and a selectively disabled write driver.
Nonvolatile memory devices are widely used to provide long term data storage. They can be found in a broad range of consumer and industrial electronic devices, such as computers, mobile phones, cameras, and portable memory devices, to name but a few. In an effort to improve various aspects of nonvolatile memory devices, such as cost, storage capacity, and performance, researchers continue to investigate new ways of forming and operating the nonvolatile memory devices.
One class of nonvolatile memory devices uses variable resistance materials to store data. Such devices can be referred to as resistive memory devices. Examples of resistive memory devices include phase-change random access memories (PRAMs), resistive RAMs (RRAMs), and magnetic RAMs (MRAMs). Some of these devices store data using a state change of a phase-change material such as chalcogenide alloy (e.g., PRAMs), a resistance change of a variable resistance material (e.g., RRAMs), or a resistance change of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) thin film according to a magnetization state of a ferromagnetic material (e.g., MRAMs). The phase-change material of a PRAM assumes a crystalline state or an amorphous state as it is cooled after being heated. The phase-change material has low resistance in the crystalline state and has high resistance in the amorphous state. Therefore, the crystalline state may be defined as set data or data 0, and the amorphous state may be defined as reset data or data 1.
In an effort to improve these and other forms of resistive memory devices, researchers are engaged in continuing efforts to develop better designs and operating techniques for the devices.